Actress Jennifer Lawrence gives the finger to photographers after winning the Oscar for Best Actress.Photo: FilmMagic

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Anne Hathaway (John Shearer/Invision/AP)

It was the rise and fall and rise of a great young star.

Twenty-two-year-old “Silver Linings Playbook” star Jennifer Lawrence won the Oscar for Best Actress last night — but then took an embarrassing header on her way to accept her statue.

Lawrence sprawled on the stage steps at the Dolby Theatre after tripping over her flowing gown. It was another award-show faux pas — after her dress slipped on her way to accept a Screen Actor’s Guild award last month.

“Les Misérables” star Hugh Jackman tried to sprint to the rescue, but the red-faced beauty pulled herself up and made it up the steps.

“That’s really embarrassing,” she said, trying to make a joke of the tumble as she accepted her award. “You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell,” she said to a standing ovation.

The 85th Academy Awards’ biggest prize, Best Picture, went to Ben Affleck’s “Argo. The Iran hostage thriller also won Best Adapted Screenplay and Film Editing. Affleck, one of the movie’s producers, had been snubbed in the Best Director category.

“You have to work harder than you think you possibly can, and you can’t hold grudges,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter how you get knocked down in life because that’s going to happen,” he added. “All that matters is that you gotta get up.”

In a surprise twist, the Best Picture award was presented to “Argo” by First Lady Michelle Obama, who opened the envelope via satellite from the White House.

“These nine movies took us back in time and all around the world,” she said of the nominees. “They taught us that love can endure against all odds.”

“Lincoln” star Daniel Day-Lewis made history by becoming the first person to win three Best Actor Oscars.

As he accepted the award from Meryl Streep — who won Best Actress last year playing British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher — Day-Lewis turned his acceptance speech into a comedy routine.

“It’s funny, because three years ago, we agreed to do this swap. I had actually been committed to play Margaret Thatcher,” he quipped, adding: “Meryl was [director] Steven’s [Spielberg] first choice for Lincoln . . . I’d like to see that version.”

Ang Lee took home the directing prize for his magical lost-at-sea tale, “Life of Pi.”

The native of Taiwan poked fun at the fakery of Hollywood acceptance speeches. After thanking his lawyer and agent, he bluntly joked, “I have to do that.”

Anne Hathaway took home her first career Oscar last night, winning for Best Supporting Actress in “Les Misérables.”

The award for Best Supporting Actor went to Christoph Waltz for his role as a bounty hunter in the Quentin Tarantino flick “Django Unchained.”

Tarantino later won for Best Original Screenplay.

Oscar had a rare tie last night with “Skyfall” and “Zero Dark Thirty” sharing sound-editing honors. It was the first tie since 1994.